But brilliance from Mark Bresciano in the 42nd minute saw a cross sail over Luke Wilkshire, who promptly levelled the game. Schwarzer’s heroics then saw Australia stay in the game, with the Fulham number one twice made close range saves. Then, in the 81st minute the Socceroos broke down the left, with Wilkshire setting David Carney free down the wing, before Carney crossed to Emerton, who promptly thumped it home.

The win marked a great comeback for Australia, which, finger crossed, will see them (with a little help from their A League counterparts) into the Asian Cup. Lucas Neill summed up the game by saying:

“I think it just summed up Australians tonight. The going got tough, we got our heads down, saw a very difficult challenge, took it on face to face and we were victorious. We really had to dig deep at times, rode a little bit of luck, but in the end really can be happy with they way we performed and won the game…Bring on South Africa.”

Anyway, disregarding the possibility of a FIFA conspiracy, Australia lie at the top of the group, despite our previous game being a ‘do or die’ clash. The group currently sees Australia and Oman sitting in equal first on four points, with the Socceroos ahead on goal di…well, because we’re better (all four teams have a massive goal difference of 0), while Kuwait and Indonesia sit behind on three and two points respectively. While a loss wouldn’t put Australia completely out of the running, it would add difficulty for the A League Socceroos in the next two rounds, so a win is still vital. The game kicks off on Saturday at 6pm local, which according to the FFA is : 1am AEDT, 12:30 ACDT, 12:00 AEST, 10pm AWST.

The squad appears thus:

Mark Bresciano, Alex Brosque, Tim Cahill, David Carney, Scott Chipperfield, Jason Culina, Bruce Djite, Brett Emerton, Adam Federici, Brett Holman, Mile Jedinak, Brad Jones, Harry Kewell, Patrick Kisnorbo, Shane Lowry, Mark Milligan, Craig Moore, Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer, Mile Sterjovski, Carl Valeri, Dario Vidosic, Luke Wilkshire, Rhys Williams

The call up of Alex Brosque adds insult to injury for Scott McDonald, who will feel hard done by that his weekend brace hasn’t seen him recalled. Aston Villa defender Shane Lowry, who is currently on loan at Plymouth Argyle, has also been added to the squad. Hopefully Verbeek will cap Lowry so he will be tied down to Australia.

The dropping of Macca aside, the most interesting call up has to be that of Bruce Djite, the 22 year old striker who has been struggling for minutes in Turkey.

Once again, the dropping of McDonald aside, this is a full strength Australian squad which should see off Oman. While the conditions may be tough, I full expect Australia to take the game. 2-0 Australia

The Squad:
Jan Versleijen, Head Coach of the Young Socceroos, named his squad to compete in Copa Ciudad de Rosario in Argentina, a warm up event for the U-20 World Cup to be held later this year in Egypt. The squad consisted of 20 player, 16 from A-League or local clubs, and 4 from overseas. The squad was:

Luke Brattan (Brisbane Roar), Isaka Cernak Okanya (Brisbane Roar), Alex Cisak (Leicester City, UK), Peter Cvetanovski (Borussia Moenchengladbach, Germany), Kofi Danning (Sydney FC), Luke DeVere (Brisbane Roar), Nathan Elasi (Melbourne Victory), Antony Golec (Sydney FC), Jason Hoffman (Newcastle Jets), Matthew Jurman (Sydney FC), Osama Malik (North Queensland Fury), Tahj Minniecon (Gold Coast United), Aaron Mooy (Bolton Wanderers, UK), Sam Munro (Sydney FC), Jason Naidovski (Newcastle Jets), Mitch Nichols (Brisbane Roar), Chris Payne (Sydney FC), Andrew Redmayne (Central Coast Mariners), Nikola Stanojevic (AIS), Rocco Visconte (Hearts FC, Scotland).

Not a half bad squad really, with the likes of Osama Malik and KOFI KOFI KOFI!!!, and Tahj Minniecon. However there is the notable absence of one Dean Bouzanis, young Liverpool keeper who had been flirting with Greece recently. Hopefully this was just because he wanted to stay in Liverpool for their pre-season, and hopefully he will be in the squad for the World Cup.

So the squad jetted out to Argentina to prepare for their first game against…Uruguay U-20’s, Australia’s arch nemesis.

Game 1: Uruguay U-20’s 0-0 Australian U-20’s (4-3 on penalties)

The first game of the tournament started cautiously, before a mistake in the Uruguayan midfield opened up a one on one for Jason Hoffman, but his shot sailed over. Then in the second half a cross from Hoffman was volleyed but the Uruguayan keeper and struck by KOFI KOFI KOFI!! Danning, but alas it hit the post. The Young Socceroos remained dangerous for the rest of the game, but couldn’t convert, and at the end of 90 minutes the game went straight to penalties. The first three Aussie penalties were converted, but then misses from Nathan Elasi and Peter Cvetanovski opened up the door for Uruguay, who converted. So a 4-3 penalty loss for the opening game againist our enemy, not a great start.

Game 2: C.A. Tiro Federal 2-1 Australian U-20’s

Australia was scheduled to play the USA side next, but a late change meant they faced club side Tiro Federal instead. And things didn’t start well, with a goal in the fifth minute from the club side, after a rebound from Young Socceroos keeper Alex Cisak. However, the Young Socceroos rebounded quickly, with an equaliser coming only 13 minutes later from Chris Payne. But then…two minutes later Federal regained the lead after a Socceroos error. In the second half the Young Socceroos started strongly, but to no avail. Then a red card to Federal opened up an opportunity, but unfortunately they were unable to equalise and finished the game 2-1 down.

Game 3: Australian U-20’s 3-1 USA U-20’s

The Young Socceroos had to bounce back strongly in there last game of the tournament, and it didn’t look like doing so when a Kofi Danning error gave USA the lead (are you sure this is right? Danning doesn’t make mistakes ). However Danning then had the chance to make up for his mistake, when he took a nice shot on goal, only for it to hit the post and get cleared. The Young Socceroos continued to create, but with no end product, until the 87th minute when Chris Payne set up Jason Naidovski, who calmly slotted it home. Then 3 minutes later Australia found the lead after a cross into a crowded box found Isaka Cernak. Then towards the end of extra time some good passing from Chris Payne and Aaron Mooy saw Payne slotting it past the keeper. So a good win for the Young Socceroos over a quality USA side will be a big confidence boost for them.

Game 4 (end of tour friendly): Australia U-20’s 2-2 Argentinos Juniors

The Young Socceroos had a final end of season friendly against Argentinos Juniors, and after conceding in the 35th it looked like it would go the same way as the first two games. But a Aaron Mooy conversion after Jason Hoffman was brought down in the box put the Young Socceroos back on level pegging. Australia then had the chance to go ahead when Chris Payne was through on the keeper, but a great save denied him. Then, a minute later, a mistake from the Young Socceroos keeper while trying to clear, gifted the Argentinos Juniors a goal. However an Australian equaliser in the 76th minute meant Australia would go home with a draw.

So an acceptable tournament for the Young Socceroos on the whole, with a win, a draw and 2 losses. Young Socceroos head coach Jan Versleijen reflected on the tour saying, “The tour has been very successful from playing South American teams and we have learnt a great deal leading into the U-20 World Cup…What this tour has also showed is which players are up to the level required to compete at the World Cup and this has provided me with further information on our players as I work towards selecting the final squad,”

So.. What do you think, an acceptable result? or should they have gone better?

We are now firm leaders in Asia, with our nearest rivals Japan dropping nine places to 40th, followed by South Korea at 48th and Iran at 58th.

Brazil’s successful Confederations Cup means that they are now at the pinnacle of the rankings, followed by Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Russia, England, Argentina, France and Croatia.

Congratulations to the boys, keep up the good work!

To be honest, I quite like the Socceroos, despite being one of those people that constantly corrects others for calling the sport soccer. I’ve grown up calling the team the Socceroos, and the Footballroos just doesn’t have the same ambience.

I’ve heard an argument that the Socceroos just sounds silly, and to be taken seriously by other nations we need to drop the nickname and just be called the Australian National Team. But then again, heaps of other nations across the world have nicknames such as the Three Lions, the Oranje, The Blue Samurai, The Azzuri, Les Blue, etc, etc.

What do you guys think of the name Socceroos? Do we need to change it? Can you make any suggestions to new nicknames?

And in other news, Pim Verbeek has not written Mark Viduka out of his World Cup plans, despite the fact that the former captain hasn’t played a game for the Green and Gold in nearly two years. Having touted with retirement before the 2007 Asian Cup, Viduka was coated out of that decision to take on Asia, but has since yet to put on the Socceroos jersey (in a competitive match anyway, he might sleep in one for all I know).

Having torrid time with injuries and poor form, Viduka has only featured in a handful of appearances for Newcastle this season. A change in management at St. James Park – all hail the King – is hopefully going to bring in better fortune for Dukes, as Shearer is the similar battering ram centre forward that Viduka is. The 33 year old, who recently rubbished rumours of a return to the A-League, is at a crossroad in his career, as he is on the final year of his contract at Newcastle and will need to find a club for next season – and regular playing time – if he is to seriously challenge for World Cup selection in 2010.

Does Mark Viduka still have something to offer the Socceroos? Or are we better suited to give the new guys like Scotty Mac and Jesus our full vote of confidence?

The World Game reports that the game will take place in Melbourne or Sydney, and is the second high profile international friendly the boys have on their calendar after a match against Ireland at Thamond Park in August.

Unlike the Wilson et al pieces which are usually just pointless “sokkah” bashes, Payten’s concerns are a true problem which I’ve noticed myself for a while. Pim Verbeek, for all this coaching abilities and football theories, is not the most personable guy around. Of course, I don’t know him personally and I’m only going by what I see of him in interviews and from his quotes in the papers, but like Payten suggest, Pim isn’t exactly in line to be on Oprah any time soon.

I don’t mind the fact that he’s quiet and keeps to himself – everyone’s got their own personality – but I do mind the almost snobbish attitude he treats the media with. He’s alienating himself from the media and the public, causing a PR nightmare for the FFA. Compare this to the charismatic Guus, whom the whole country loved so much, and you can see exactly what I’m talking about.

Pim’s negative attitude towards the A-League is well documented, and this disdain for the local media seems to stem from that. To me (and I totally welcome all input and feedback on this matter), it seems like he doesn’t believe in the game here. Yes, he’s plodding along getting the job done – getting us to the World Cup – but he doesn’t believe in the future of football in Australia and he isn’t passionate about it. His half assed efforts in interviews suggest that he doesn’t think that we are a cultured football nation, and therefore he shouldn’t waste time with the journo’s.

And the worse aspect of it all is that this negative attitude is seeping through to the team. Providing what Payten said about the Kewell, Cahill, Verbeek interview was true, then this is setting a very bad precedent. I can’t find an online version, but another article in the Telegraph by Josh Taylor today talks about how Josh Kennedy ignored all media at Sydney airport yesterday and refused to give them even the obligatory few minutes.

Football in this country has worked so hard to get to where it is today. The current state of the game has Johnny smiling upstairs and nodding his head while giving us two thumbs up. The media, regardless of what Pim thinks of them, is a vital tool to the continual growth of the game here and we can’t piss them off. After so many decades, football has finally achieved a standing amongst the mainstream media, so the FFA must give something back, and work with them for the sake of our game. We can’t just sit back and think that football has taken off yet, there is still much work to be done, and the media will always play an important role in our future rise or fall.

What do you think? Are you getting the same negative vibe that I’m getting about Pim and the Socceroos? Does Pim have an obligation to promote the sport here? Or should he not care as long as he gets us to the World Cup?

I proceeded to watch the final half an hour of the match, and was honestly not impressed with what I saw. Passes were constantly misplaced, tackles seemed rash and deadly (especially from the Bahraini number 3), people weren’t going up for headers, the back line didn’t push up after clearing corners, it was almost amateur stuff. Save for flashes of individual brilliance, the match could have looked like my weekend club game.

The Qataris had a great chance to equalise on 70 minutes, after a nice ball through the crowded penalty box led to a shot at the back post, but the striker (forgive me I wasn’t taking notes on their names) tried to pick the keeper’s near post instead of firing across the goal, and his effort was nicely blocked. Besides that brief moment of excitement, the Bahrainis were all over Qatar, and in truth could have gotten one or two more goals.

Coming into the overnight matches, Bahrain, Uzbekistan and Qatar were level on four points from five games, so the win puts Bahrain in the driver’s seat for the race to third place.

Meanwhile, Australia needs one more point from their remaining three games to guarantee qualification. They next face Qatar in Doha, before returning home to play Bahrain in Sydney and the anti-climatic climax against Japan in Melbourne.

57,000 fans braved the atrocious conditions to witness the Socceroos’ stirring second half performance after a cagey and disappointing first half. Two goals midway through the second period, one by giant striker Josh Kennedy, and the other a spot kick by Harry Kewell, settled any home side nerves , and now it will take a collapse of drastic proportions for the Socceroos not to qualify for South Africa. Of course, we may need to look no further than three hours into the future, because if Bahrain and Qatar draw in their match early tomorrow morning then qualification is guaranteed.

Pim Verbeek opted for width with a 4-5-1 formation, with Scott McDonald as the lone striker. The Celtic man was supported by Kewell, Mark Bresciano, Richard Garcia, while Carl Valeri overcame his injury scare to start with Jason Culina as the holding midfielders. Michael Beauchamp was also deemed fit enough to play, and he started alongside skipper Lucas Neill, with Luke Wilkshire and Scott Chipperfield as the wingbacks. Mark Schwarzer, who was barely called on for much of the game, predictably started in goals.

McDonald, who earlier this week revealed his frustration with his duck at international level, attempted to rectify the problem early on with the match’s first meaningful effort on goal. However it was a tame effort which the Uzbek keeper Nesterov had no problems catching.

Credit to the Uzbeks, as they came to Sydney with an attacking mentality which nearly paid dividends barely ten minutes in when their hat trick hero from the recent Qatar match, Farhod Tadjiyev, broke the offside trap only to blow his one on one wide of Schwarzer’s right post.

Bresciano, who had a great game, had the Socceroos’ best chance in the first half, when fifteen minutes in he found himself with space inside the box, only to see his tame effort hit straight at Nesterov again.

The Uzbek keeper would deny the Aussies once more, when midway through the second half Culina let rip with a stinging effort from 30 meters out which Nesterov did brilliantly to tip away.

Josh Kennedy came on for McDonald on the hour mark, and showed why he is such a good impact player when he rose with a bullet header to open the scoring five minutes later. A wonderful turn by Bresciano to escape his marker gave him time and space to whip in a perfect cross from the right, and Kennedy soared to meet the header uncontested, leaving the luckless Nesterov with no chance.

The match was wrapped up five minutes later when Garcia was judged to be brought down in the box by Hayrulla Karimov, and Kewell duly stepped up and slotted home the spot kick. To be fair it was a harsh penalty, as Garcia’s initial touch was heavy and took him well away from goal, only for the Uzbek defender to catch him on the follow through.

The two goal lead allowed the Socceroos to wind down the clock, but not before a scare just prior to the final whistle, when the Uzbeks found the net after a Schwarzer fumble, only to be called for offside.

The win propels the Socceroos to the outright lead in the group with 13 points from five games, and all eyes will be on the Bahrain Qatar game early tomorrow.

I’m hoping for a very sporting 0-0 draw. ..

A lot has been made about the meteoric growth of football in Australia in the past few years. The enlightened argument is that the government initiated Crawford report of 2003, an in-dept analysis about the infrastructure of the sport here, was the main turning point. Through the Crawford report, the wrongs of the past were highlighted and removed, paving the way for the new and modern age of football which we know today. The stale National Soccer League, dogged by racism and financial mismanagement claims, was disbanded and made way for the highly successful and better marketed A-League. The old regime of Soccer Australia was replaced by a Football Federation Australia (FFA) which had plans and ambition.

However, when all is said and done off the pitch, it was still the actions of those on it who spoke the highest volume. While the Crawford report changed the infrastructure of the game for the better, it was the Socceroos who ultimately did the most for the profile of football in Australia.

The one single defining moment, so deeply entrenched in every Socceroo fan’s mind is of course the night of November 16, 2005, when we leaped the final hurdle and whatever injustice FIFA could throw at us to make it back onto the world’s biggest stage.

The build-up, the anticipation, the events, and ultimately the glory of that perfect spring night will live with me forever.

Cast your eyes back to 2005, and recall the lull Australian sport was in at the time. We had to endure the humiliating loss in the Ashes to England for the first time in nearly two decades, the Wallabies and the Australian teams in the Super 12’s were all struggling, and the league and AFL were dormant in their off-season. The Australian public was for once starved of a champion.

Despite the 0-1 loss in Uruguay in the first leg, there was an air of optimism about the side. The local media finally decided to embrace the game they had shunned for so long, devoting many pages on the Socceroos, while the Sydney Morning Herald even declared that they will forever call the sport by its rightful name of “football” in its pages. Uruguayan superstar Alvaro Recoba’s “divine right” comments prior to the game whipped up a frenzy, as he inadvertently sparked a sense of nationalism never before felt about football in Australia. All eyes were on this single “wog-ball” game. This match united the nation.

While every Socceroo fan will remember this night, personally it was an even more momentous occasion as I, along with seven of my closest mates, was at Stadium Australia to witness the historical occasion.

A quick getaway from work that afternoon saw us crammed on a packed train, full of fans in canary yellow. We chatted with people, chanted the Aussie Aussie Aussie war cry, and stepped into the stadium full of expectation and hope.

We found our seats just as Johnny Warren’s tribute came on, and the respect and love shown by everyone who stood to attention in memory of the great man was touching. The famed words, “Johnny, You’ll Never Walk Alone,” flashed across the scoreboard, a positive omen for what was to come.

Passion is a word often used when talking about football, but what came over me that night was something more. Something pushed me to the point where I was one of those who unashamedly booed the Uruguayans. While I’ve always admired the skills and grace of the players regardless of which team they played for, that night I neglected my love for beautiful football for the love of my country. We spited the Uruguayans, from their national anthem to their every touch.

Masterful tactician Guus had caused the biggest surprised that night by naming Harry Kewell on the bench. This obviously caused some confusion, amongst the Uruguayans as well as the fans, but Guus proved that you should never question genius at work. As the first half an hour dragged on, it was obvious that it was a war of attrition. Australia were flat, and didn’t look like penetrating the Uruguayan defence. Having bottled up Kewell’s adrenalin and emotions by sitting him on the bench all this time, Hiddink finally unleashed the winger onto the Uruguayans.

And now, Harry had a point to prove.

He spent the next 90 minuted baffling the Uruguayan defenders with jinks, step-overs, tricks, dummies and fakes, and I’m sure at one stage he even pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket, offered one to the defender and guessed which card it was. The fans cheered when he bumped chests with the biggest Uruguayan defender after a poor tackle. No one had ever seen Kewell this fired up in a match before. It was good. This was not the lame Harry Kewell who spends all his time on the bench at Liverpool. This was the real deal, the golden child, the flashy Wizard of Oz who was at one time the future of Australian football. Everyone would go on to agree that Kewell played his best ever match in a Socceroos jersey that night in Sydney. Finally the prodigal son had returned.

Indeed, Kewell played a pivotal role in Australia’s goal. Receiving the ball out wide on the left, Kewell played a one-two and cut into the box, ready to tee up a half volley. He let fly with his famous left peg, only to mis-hit it completely, allowing it to roll into the path of Mark Bresciano, who drove the ball high into the net. 1-all, we’re back.

The pandemonium that broke out was insatiable. Cheers, yells, fist pumps, chest bumps, high fives, hugs with randoms, it was all there – an absolute eruption of emotion. Whatever everyone was feeling, they should bottle it because this stuff could end wars. The fresh tray of drinks which had just been purchased went sprawling, but the bourbon-and-coke drenched group in front of us didn’t seem to mind. Instead, they gave us a hug.

The rest of the game progressed along, with the usual ups and downs of a football match. Twice we nearly went ahead, and twice they had open headers to steal it. But none connected and finally the dreaded penalty shootout came.

The ultimate lottery on the sporting field, a penalty shootout is a combination of luck, nerves and luck. However, it’s a great spectacle to watch on TV, and the fact that the game ended in such dramatic circumstances again drew many fans to the game. Those who hate football because “no one scores” now saw guys take uncontested shots from 11 meters out against just the goalkeeper. There’s not much in the Australian sporting world which quite compares to a penalty shootout. No, there’s nothing that compares to a shootout in cricket, AFL, or any of the rugby codes. Which was why so many watched it at home. Here it was, prime time television slot, and one of the most exciting events in Australian sporting history was taking place.

The shoot-out took place at the goals nearest us, and we all rushed to the fence. Arms linked with those next to us, we formed a ring around the field, praying to which ever football god was listening to smile upon us.

Harry Kewell stepped up and blasted the first shot into the net and we erupted with joy. Then the brilliant Schwarzer, unfazed by Rodriguez’s mind games, palmed away the Uruguayans’ first effort and suddenly the dream was becoming very real. As the two teams exchanged successful attempts, the grip we had on each other tightened, with the knowledge that as long as we kept scoring our penalties we were through. Then Viduka guided his shot wide of the goal, and we all suddenly gasped and swore. But to the credit of those around me, we collected ourselves, put our arms around each other again, and continued to believe. In a true roller coaster of emotions, our despair at Viduka’s miss was quickly forgotten as Schwarzer came up big again, denying Zalayeta in what has been described as the biggest save in Australian football history.

Then came Aloisi. With one kick to go, with the weight of the nation on his shoulders, he smashed it calmly into the net, and set off in the now famous celebratory run across the pitch.

While the rest of the crowd was going nuts beside me, I sat back, took a deep breath, and smiled. I love Australia. I love football. I love Australian football, and like any loving relationship you had to take the good with the bad. I’ve sat through three prior unsuccessful campaigns, each time consoling myself that next time would be it. But I didn’t need to anymore. It was time to embrace the joy of the moment. We were going to the World Cup.

History would go on to say that we performed above expectations in Germany, that we lost narrowly to the eventual champions Italy, and that we won many admirers along the way. Our game has since improved on all levels, we have a new football federation who has money as well as a plan, and player registrations for local clubs have increased dramatically since 2006.

Granted, many fans who watched the Uruguay game and the subsequent World Cup are now back off the bandwagon, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that even if not everyone enjoys the game, at least now they respect it.

With qualification to the next World Cup so imminent, it was good to go down memory lane and recapture the great night that was November 16, 2005. It was the night when football in Australia changed forever, and any success in the future of Australian football needs to acknowledge the heroes who guided us to victory that night.

As commentator Simon Hill, no doubt high on jubilation, so delightfully declared after Aloisi’s penalty: “Now, belatedly, wonderfully, joyously, Australia is back on the biggest stage.” Just like Johnny said we would.